Verstappen doesn't think he has the pace to beat Mercedes F1 tomorrow

Max Verstappen doesn’t seem very optimistic about being able to win the Turkish Grand Prix tomorrow.

And even if Lewis Hamilton started nine places behind him, there was still Valtteri Bottas in front of him, a very efficient and fast single-seater in a straight line on this Istanbul circuit.

A few hours later At the end of qualifying, which he finished in 2nd place, the Red Bull driver said he was realistic when asked if he had a chance to win tomorrow.

“The main problem I have is that I start second. It’s on the inside and there is very little grip in the dry and the wet compared to the outside, so I’m probably going to lose places there already, so that won’t be ideal, “ Verstappen analyzes.

“And of course, overall we also lack pace compared to Mercedes, so I expect it to be quite difficult to beat them tomorrow. Of course Lewis will have a bit more difficult job tomorrow to get back to the front, but I even think it will still be quite difficult to keep him behind me with the pace they showed in qualifying but also in their long runs. ”

“We’ll try everything we can of course,” Verstappen adds, “But we also have to be realistic, and I don’t think there is much you can force or change. But let’s see tomorrow how hard or not it is to overtake, because we don’t really have any real indication on that. We will do our best. “

Video – The starting grid of the Turkish GP 2021: